Burn
by gotmoreissuesthanvogue
Summary: "She hoped that he burned." One-shot about Liz Allen finding out a dark secret about her family. Spoilers for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Features Liz, her mother and mentions of the Vulture.


Liz dried her eyes the best she could as she darted out of school. The air was cold on her face as she ran down the steps and down the street.

She didn't know how she was going to get home, but all she knew is that she wanted to be back in the warm embrace of her parents. Sadly, her Dad had to go on a business trip, so he wouldn't be at home, but at least she would be able to talk to her Mother about her ruined Homecoming.

She had been stupid. Why on Earth had she decided to go with him? That stupid, irresponsible boy who constantly got into trouble for skipping class and leaving detention without reason. This was weird though. Liz wasn't the sort of girl to get upset over a boy. She'd had a couple boyfriends over the years, nothing very serious. They'd break up, just like any other average teenage couple, which would leave her down and out for a couple of days. Her dad would always be there, ready to lift her spirit and comfort her by saying that boys were stupid in high school. Dad always knew how to make her feel better.

Anger bubbled up inside of her and she silently cursed under her breath. Peter had been acting weird ever since he arrived at her house, thrusting the corsage at her without so much as a word, and acting like a frightened puppy in the presence of her parents. He barely even looked at her, which disappointed her a little bit. She liked Peter; he was a smart and cute guy. He was a lot younger than her, and she was going to go to college, so she wasn't sure if a relationship with him was a good idea. Still, she liked him and had been looking forward to a fun night of dancing.

Liz reached the end of the road, and stopped. She pulled a few strands of hair that stuck to her lips away, and sighed. After pulling her fingers through her hair, she looked in her clutch and pulled out her cell phone. She ordered an uber, which said it was only a few minutes away. Liz straightened her shoulders, and blew out again, determined to remain calm and collected. She hadn't left immediately because she did not want anyone to think she was too upset and had danced with her friends, trying to avoid the growing, topsy-turvy feeling in her stomach.

The Uber pulled up to the curb, and Liz waved half-heartedly as she walked up to the car. She opened the door and slid in. The driver, a woman who seemed only a few years older than Liz, noticed the light mascara stain that rain down the younger girl's face. Calculating that she'd just come from the Homecoming, the Uber drive smiled a sympathetic smile and handed Liz a tissue. She did not say much to her because she knew that talking was something Liz wanted to do at the moment.

The ride was a short one, but it seemed a whole lot longer. Liz stared out the window and watched all the city lights flicker by, strange and beautiful, glowing in a peculiar way. Instead of the bold and comforting feeling the usually provided her, it made her feel weak and vulnerable. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cool window.

When the car finally pulled up in front of her house, the uber driver turned around and glanced at Liz.

"It's gonna be okay, sweetie," she told Liz "Boy are gonna be boys. You're a beautiful young girl and don't need him."

"Thank you," Liz whispered, offering up the best smile she could.

After she got out of the car, she ran up the steps to her house, eager to see her mother. She reached into her clutch and pulled out her keys. The door swung open, revealing the inside of her house. Liz closed the door behind her. She walked into the living room, which would lead towards the kitchen.

"Mom?" she called.

Nothing.

Liz frowned. Her mother never went to bed this early. Liz had only been at the dance for two hours.

"Mom?" she called again, her voice louder than before.

She walked into the kitchen. There, she saw her Mother, frantically slinging her purse over her shoulder, and storming towards the door.

"Liz, baby!" her Mother exclaimed, skidding to a stop "I thought you were at the dance."

"Peter ditched me," Liz said softly "I wasn't having any fun so I took an Uber home."

"Oh, oh, oh," her mother said, looking at the clock on the wall.

Liz noticed her Mother seemed very agitated. She kept shifting her weight from one foot to another as if she could not wait to bolt out the door and leave. Her eyes were wide open and then kind expression in them was replaced with a look of unimaginable horror and grief. Liz then noticed her mother breathing in and out deeply as if she was having trouble filling her lungs up all the way. Her lips trembled and her head bobbed up and down. She seemed on the brink of flying off the handle. Suddenly, any thought of Peter fled out of Liz's mind. She ran to her mother and pulled her to one of the stoles around the island.

"What's wrong?" Liz asked frantically "What on Earth is wrong?"

Liz's mom looked down at her daughter and touched her cheek. A fat tear trickled out of her eye.

"It's your father, gumdrop."

"Is he okay? Did something happen to his plane?"

Her mother shook her head.

"A plan crashed outside of the city, one that apparently belonged to Mr. Stark."

Liz's blood began to boil a little bit. Her father constantly told her not to be bitter towards Mr. Stark, but every time Liz thought of him, she was reminded of how he made her Dad lose his job. Her dad always told her it wasn't that big of a deal since they were doing so well off now. He even went on to say that it was because of Stark that they were doing so well; he had been motivation.

"Apparently, someone tried to hijack to plane but Spiderman stopped it from happening and apprehended the person who did this."

More tears rolled out of her mother's eyes.

"What about daddy though?" Liz demanded "What about him?"

"I have to go, Liz," her mother exclaimed "I've got to go!"

"Where?" Liz yelled, starting to cry "Where is he?"

"I can't tell you, Liz," her Mother whispered "It will destroy you."

Liz's heart dropped.

"He was the one who hijacked the plane, right?" Liz said, her voice barely audible.

Her mother blew out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. She sighed and dried her eyes the best she could.

"We must stay strong, Liz," she told her daughter, standing to her feet "We are Toomes and Toomes are unstoppable."

"To the paint where the hijack planes and get into fights with Spiderman?" Liz snapped.

"I don't know, gumdrop, I don't know . . . I'm going to the hospital. Apparently, Adrian got some pretty bad burns in a fire that started up during the plane's crash."

"Let's go."

"No, no—Liz—sweet Liz—I think you should stay home. I don't think he would want to see you."

"How do you know?"

Her mother sighed.

"Let's go," she finally told her daughter.

They both headed towards the garage, where one of their cars was. After leaving the house, Liz pressed her head to the window once again. Instead of being cool, it seemed surprisingly hot.

A feeling of hot anger spread throughout her body, making her body tremor in fury. She bit her lip, desperate to stay composed and not cry. Liz attempted to stay calm by controlling her breathing, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Images of her father flashed through her head . . . Images of his warm smile, his comforting hugs and his deep laugh. She imagined him fighting Spiderman, lashing out at the hero, doing his best to take him down for whatever was on that plane.

That's when her memory of Spiderman rang through her head.

She was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

He caught her, grasping her head tightly, begging her not to let go. She looked up at him, her lips parted, allowing panicked air to escape her lips. Then, when Spiderman set her down, she looked at him as he hung down. She could not see his face, but she could hear his breathing. Like hers, it was deep and ragged. Maybe he was tired, but something inside of her said he wasn't just tired . . .

Her blood boiled in her veins.

Images of her father flashed through her head again.

She hoped that he burned.

She wasn't sure whether that sentiment was for her father or Spiderman, but she hoped he burned all the same.

Burn.

 **Okay, I loved Spider-Man: Homecoming, but I wish we saw more of what Liz thought when her father turned out to be bad guy. I decided to wrote it down. The title was inspired by the song from Hamilton, Burn. I love the sentiment from the song, even though the situation described in the song does not match with Liz's situation. I like the idea of being so angry that you want someone to burn, even if only for a little while. Gosh, I feel bad for Liz.**

 **Please leave a review!**

 **Much Love,**

 **gotmoreissuesthanvogue**


End file.
